


A dog, a tortoise and a boyfriend

by Chelidona (Hobbity)



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Chihuahua warning, Fluff warning, I promise Cookie is adorable, M/M, Mention of the death of a pet, Modern AU, seriously why do people hate on those poor dogs so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 15:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13460814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hobbity/pseuds/Chelidona
Summary: Fill for WinterFRE prompt 107: "A works in a shelter. B wants a pet, not a boyfriend, but has to discover not only the pups and kitties are cute."A year after his beloved Golden Retriever passed away, Fíli is ready for a new dog.He ends up with a tortoise, a chihuahua and a boyfriend





	A dog, a tortoise and a boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [islandkate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/islandkate/gifts).



Fíli had grabbed a mug at random that morning. But as he raised it to his lips he suddenly noticed what it said.

He had not used that mug in well over a year, how had it moved to the front of the shelf?

The words “Life without dogs is like a night sky without stars.”

His gaze flickered to the pictures on the wall. One of a golden retriever puppy running towards the photographer (Fíli). The other of the same dog, wizened with age, resting on his dog bed.

It had been almost a year since Fíli had had to let Minty go.

Ever since he was a child, he had lived with dogs. His family was not good at showing affection, but the family dog, Jessie, had always made up for it. And, as soon as he had moved into his own flat, he had adopted an adorable puppy from a family friend, who had taken a dog from a shelter, that had turned out to be pregnant.

Minty had been the light in Fíli’s life for 15 years. Now he was approaching 40, had no dog and no partner, and life was, in all honesty, very much a night sky without stars.

*

Fíli nearly took a step backwards when a young man bounced towards him as soon as he entered the shelter.

“Fíli? My name is Kíli!” He beamed. “Isn’t it funny? Now, let’s see the dogs!”

Fíli shook the man’s hand and was almost dragged forward, before Kíli let go of Fíli’s hand again. This close, the man appeared nearer Fíli’s own age than he had at first assumed.

Kíli was talking again. “You told Tauriel on the phone that you’re looking for a dog you can take on long walks, is that right?”

“Well, yes, I do like walks.”

“So do I.” Kíli beamed. “We do have a young German shepherd waiting for a new home, he was just brought in yesterday. Poor dog, his owner passed away unexpectedly.”

Fíli was however distracted by insistent yipping. He frowned at the little chihuahua jumping behind the fence.

“That’s Cookie,” Kíli remarked, bending down to scratch the little thing. “Poor dog.” He suddenly laughed. “I repeat myself, but really, look at this fellow.”

Fíli crouched down too, very cautiously offering his hand to the yipping little monster. And then nearly recoiled. How could he have missed that one of the huge eye sockets was empty? And the dog was jumping so much, because his right hind leg was missing.

“Was he born like this?” he asked, while Cookie finally stopped yipping and accepted Fíli’s back scratches.

“No, he had an accident. The owner paid for the surgery, but then dumped him here.”

“She what?”

“I know.” Kíli sighed. “She owns a beauty salon in the city centre and Cookie used to lay on a little silk pillow all day, looking pretty and delighting the customers. With his missing eye, his missing leg and his scars, he does not suit the image of the salon anymore. He also lost some of the sight in his other eye, you see, and is practically blind, so he kept stumbling into things and people.”

“What a bitch.”

“Careful with your choice of insults around here.” Kíli straightened. “Anyway, he’s already been here for 8 months. I’m afraid Cookie will probably end his life here.”

“Why?”

Kíli stopped smiling and raised his eyebrows. “Nobody has ever called here and said they’d love to adopt a disabled lap dog. I may take him once I finish my degree and got my own place again. He’s sweet enough, really, but I’ve already got two cats and a cockatoo in a shared flat, so I can’t possibly take a dog as well, ‘specially since I spend most of my time either here or at uni.”

“I see.” Fíli kept petting the little thing. 

He had never much liked lap dogs and always referred to Chihuahuas as rats. But he also felt for this little dog. Disabled and tiny, he could not imagine that he got to play much with the other dogs.

“Well, I guess he can come on long walks if he’s carried,” Fíli remarked.

“Sure.” Kíli cocked his head. “Seriously?”

“Yes, why not. I’m sure you can find a good family for a young German shepherd, but as you said, it seems unfair that this little guy should spend his life being lonely in a shelter.”

Fíli felt his stomach flutter when Kíli beamed at him and said: “I knew straight away you’re a good guy.”

He told his hormones to calm down. He was at the shelter to get a dog. Not a boyfriend.

*

There were procedures to follow and papers to be signed, of course. But a week later, Fíli arrived at the shelter again, with a little carrier for miniature dogs. Kíli was there to greet him.

As they passed a red basin, Kíli pointed at the little tortoise paddling in the water.

“I know you only want a dog but Sheldon the tortoise really needs a home too, you know.”

“I don’t know anything about tortoises.”

“They’re not that difficult like, and I could help you,” Kíli suggested. “You know, you seem steady enough for a tortoise … Sheldon is already 20, and may well live for another 20 or more, most people are not ready for that kind of commitment. But if you are, I’ll even pay for part of the equipment at the pet shop. As you see, we don’t really have an adequate terrarium for Sheldon.”

“Only if you come shopping with me and help me set it up,” Fíli relented, more for the prospect of being able to see Kíli again.

While he agreed with Kíli on a date for the shopping trip, three days later, he already almost regretted his decision. Where exactly would he put up a tortoise?

Still, all thoughts of the tortoise fled his mind when he greeted Cookie. He had come to the shelter every day to spend some time with the dog, who now greeted him affectionately.

Of course he had also come to see Kíli, though the brunet was usually busy taking care of the other animals and on some days, he had not been there at all.

He booped Cookie’s nose now. “You’re coming home with me, how do you like that, eh?”

Cookie yipped in excitement and put up no fuss when he was put in the carrier. 

*

In Fíli’s apartment, Cookie slowly walked through the rooms, followed by Fíli, sniffing out every corner. Fíli had always been tidy, but he had cleaned and tidied even more than usual, making sure to eliminate all unnecessary obstacles and dangers for half blind little dogs.

Fíli had built a little stair so the dog could walk up the couch. It took a while though for Cookie to get the idea.

And once he was on the couch, he immediately placed himself into Fíli’s lap.

The next day, a Saturday, it was time for the big test: How would Cookie like long walks? When Cookie was at the shelter, Fíli had taken him for short walks around the area which Cookie already knew.

Now, in a new surrounding, the dog stayed so close to Fíli’s feet, that Fíli had to take care not to kick him. 20 very slow minutes later, Cookie’s three good legs were obviously getting tired and he was barely able to keep up with Fíli’s snail pace. So Fíli took out the puppy sling he bought and carefully put Cookie inside.

The little dog looked very relieved once in the sling and even licked Fíli’s hand.

*

On Monday he carried Cookie in his little sling when he went to meet Kíli in front of the pet shop. Kíli grinned when he saw them and patted Cookie’s head.

“Well little fella? How is it going then?”

“He’s doing fine,” Fíli assured Kíli. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Kíli graced Fíli with a smile too now. “How’re you coping?”

“Well enough. The sling is quite comfortable for both of us, I suppose. And he does like to play tug o’war on the couch with an old scarf”

Kíli laughed. “I’d love to see that.”

“You might, you promised me to help me set up this terrarium, remember?”

“Course I do. That’s why we met so early, right!”

It took them a ridiculously long time to pick up everything a single little tortoise needed and the price was equally ridiculous. Still, Fíli refused to take Kíli’s offer of paying some of it. This was going to be his tortoise and Fíli’s salary was good enough that he did not need any charity to help him pay for it.

They stowed everything in Fíli’s car. It felt good to have Kíli on the seat next to him, Cookie’s carrier in his lap.

Fíli had thought of getting a carrier for the back of the car, where Minty had obviously always been. But then he had seen carriers for tiny dogs that could be secured by seatbelts and decided that for an abandoned little dog, it might be nicer to be closer during the car ride. The carrier was also small enough to bring into work - his boss was kind enough to allow a quiet little dog underneath Fíli’s desk.

Kíli was cooing at Cookie now and Fíli found it hard to concentrate on the road.

*

Back in Fíli’s flat, they put Cookie on the couch before the got to work. The little dog was always quite happy to just doze on the couch, preferably when his new favourite human was around. 

Fíli had already put up a sturdy table near the window with the help of his friends, Nori and Ori. Truth to be told, they’d been more than willing to pick up everything from the pet shop. And teased him mercilessly when he had insisted on doing it with that mysterious stranger from the pet shelter.

Now Fíli took his time to admire Kíli’s biceps, as they heaved the terrarium onto the table. And mainly watched while Kíli set it up, all the while chatting about the correct way of keeping tortoises.

“Might encourage me to eat more veggies,” Fíli suggested. 

“Sure.” Kíli laughed. “I like veggies anyway.”

Fíli took that as his, admittedly weak, in. “Would you like to stay for dinner? We could order some pizza after all that hard work.”

“Sure.” Kíli winked. “Why don’t you just order that, I’ll have anything that isn’t meat only, and I’ll go and pick up Sheldon.”

*

When the front door closed behind Kíli, Fíli went to press a kiss on Cookie’s head. 

“Cookie, I think you might be a little cupid.”

Cookie opened his eye lazily and let his tongue lol out in response. “You might get one extra snack even,” Fíli promised, before he went to the kitchen to find the take out menu and prepare an easy salad to go with the pizza. 

As predicted, he soon heard Cookie’s lopsided pawsteps follow him. There was a little cushion for him in the corner of the kitchen, where he liked to rest.

Fíli hoped that eventually Cookie would feel confident enough to stay in a room on his own, but for now he seemed intent on not letting Fíli get away.

*

By the time, Kíli was back, the pizza was delivered.

But before they could have pizza, they had a tortoise to put in its new home. Two minutes later, Fíli officially owned a tortoise that was sunbathing in its UV lamp and whose living quarters took up a sizable part of Fíli’s living room. 

On the plus side, he also had a gorgeous man, smiling at him with gleaming hazel eyes and asking: “Is the pizza here, so? I’m starved.”

“Yes, it is. I’ll go and get the plates, you can pick something on Netflix if you want to watch something.”

Fíli pointed to the TV and Kíli picked up the remote.

He did not pick anything on Netflix though but an archery competition.

“Is that all right?” Kíli asked, once Fíli was back. “I’m kind of into archery and they don’t show it too often on tv.”

“It’s great.”

While they watched the archers and ate their pizza, they progressed from discussing Cookie, the possibility of getting him a prosthetic, Minty’s exploit and her death, various family pets Kíli had grown up with and Kíli’s work at the shelter to more personal issues. Fíli talked about his last boyfriend, a guy that was chased away by Minty. Kíli agreed, that it was always right to trust a dog’s instincts.

As if on cue, Cookie ambled up to them, pushing against Kíli’s leg in the hope to get something a bit of the leftover pizza.

“Cookie loves you,” Fíli remarks. “I guess you’re a good guy then.”

“I am.” Kíli winked and turned to Cookie. “Even though I’m not going to give you anything, sweetheart.”

“He will get a goodie once I cleaned the table,” Fíli promised.

“Take care not to give him too much, it’s easy to overfeed Chihuahuas,” Kíli warned, getting up to help Fíli with the plates.

“I know.” Fíli bent down to pat Cookie’s head. “I’ll watch his weight, don’t worry. Of course, you might need to check up on him, to see if I did not break my promise.”

“I would love to do that. And check up on you.” Kíli put the plate down on the table again and carefully put his hand on Fíli’s waist. “If that is all right with the two of you.”

“I’m sure Cookie is all for it.” Fíli hardly recognized the breathy voice as his own, and then strong arms encircled him. He angled his face up on instinct, barely noticing the second it took for soft, chapped lips to touch his. 

He could not tell how long the kiss lasted, only broken when Cookie yipped. Cookie knew full well what goodie meant and that he had not received it yet.

Cookie was quite happy to let Kíli stay overnight though. 

**Author's Note:**

> Islandkate was my betareader for doggie related stuff (I never had a dog). Thank you!


End file.
